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US prog appreciation by non-US people

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Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=92695
Printed Date: April 25 2024 at 18:46
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Topic: US prog appreciation by non-US people
Posted By: Stool Man
Subject: US prog appreciation by non-US people
Date Posted: March 25 2013 at 17:51

Prog started out being a UK and European thing. Mostly.

I know we have Miles Davis & Frank Zappa listed on PA, but to what extent were they considered as being progressive artistes at the time? In the 70s was Kansas and the rest, but I bet I'm not the only UK prog fan who has never listened to Kansas.

So I had an idea, let's have an appreciation-of-US-prog thread, for non-US people like me. Then we can show each other amazing things that we might otherwise never bother to listen to.
For me, Todd Rundgren's "Utopia" album is one of the greatest albums of the 70s, but I haven't heard his other albums. Yet.


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rotten hound of the burnie crew



Replies:
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: March 25 2013 at 18:42

Here is some US Prog that you will need to appreciate.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cathedral Stained Glass Stories album cover
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1859" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1859


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Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 00:46
Oooooh yes - Cathedral.  A great combination of Yes, Crimso, Gentle Giant, and a large part of what inspired the Scandinavian Prog revival.  There weren't as many U.S. prog bands, but the quality was high.


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 02:21
off top of my head I like all these

Seventies wise
Chicago (up to about 1974)
Kansas ( up to about 1978)
The Tubes ( yes I count them)

Eighties
Toto (best of a not very impressive bunch)


Nineties
Mastermind (ELP/ Rush style band)
Dream Theater
Spocks Beard


Last ten years
Kansas (brilliant return with Somewhere to Elsewhere)
Glass Hammer (my favourite American band)
Neal Morse
Presto Ballet (my most recent discovery - heavy band with a great keyboard player)






Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 02:45

These days I place 'Spock's Beard' amongst my most coveted Prog-rock bands.

Todd Rundgren (& Utopia) have some wonderful albums out there too - I actually listened to my records of 'Todd' (1974) and
'A Wizard, A True Star' (1973) just recently, after not having spun them for quite a while - very precious albums they are.  And Utopia's 'Ra' is just a plain classic. 
U.S. Prog is as good as any Big smile (and I  Heart New York - I wanna live in Montauk.......near the light-house, and listen to Spock's Beard all day...........)


Posted By: Sagichim
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 03:20
For some reason I always had a soft spot for american prog. I'll avoid the big names like: Hendrix, The Doors, Echolin etc. So my absolute favorites are:

Dreadnaught
The Muffins
Cathedral
5uu's
Ram
Crack The Sky
Ambrosia
St. Elmo's Fire
Arabesque
Hands
The Facedancers
Forever Einstein
The Flock
It's A Beautiful Day
Kopecky
Maelstrom
French TV
Primus
Mirthrandir
Ohmphrey
Polyphony
Oysterhead
Thinking Plague
Tiles
Umphrey's Mcgee
Resistor

I'm sure there are so many I left out...





Posted By: Stool Man
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 03:29
Possibly my favourite US prog album of the 60s:
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=21069" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=21069


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rotten hound of the burnie crew


Posted By: Sagichim
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 04:28
Check out this cool song...




Posted By: Kotro
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 06:45
Happy the Man.

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Bigger on the inside.


Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 08:33
Hi,
 
I've always been a believer that the inclusion of the American artists, would help solidify and make the definitions for the progressive studies, a lot stronger, and more valuable, which would help put the scene on the map.
 
I'm convinced that as long as the English continue their ethnocentric ways and books continue to ignore the rest of the world including America, that "progressive" is not going to go anywhere ... and will probably die off sooner or later, because we're not capable of accepting that others were also doing the same thing.
 
You can see the beginning of the Krautrock special by the BBC, to realize that the only people that refuse to acknowledge the world wide consciousness is the rock press ... that does not believe in anything else, except the groups they like!
 
Sorry ... for progressive to be more important, valuable and stake its name, it will have to become inclusive and not exclusive of all the other scenes, so that the whole thing will make way better sense in the minds of folks ... as to what the whole thing was about.
 
This was not an accidental ... idea ... by a group or two ... about a trivial bit in music! It was a very deep, and meaningful attempt to show that we were not stupid, unintelligent, and that we had something to offer society ... and to affect a change from a manipulated society that was blasted and exterminated by World Wars!


-------------
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com


Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 09:31
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Hi,
 
I've always been a believer that the inclusion of the American artists, would help solidify and make the definitions for the progressive studies, a lot stronger, and more valuable, which would help put the scene on the map.
 
I'm convinced that as long as the English continue their ethnocentric ways and books continue to ignore the rest of the world including America, that "progressive" is not going to go anywhere ... and will probably die off sooner or later, because we're not capable of accepting that others were also doing the same thing.
 
You can see the beginning of the Krautrock special by the BBC, to realize that the only people that refuse to acknowledge the world wide consciousness is the rock press ... that does not believe in anything else, except the groups they like!
 
Sorry ... for progressive to be more important, valuable and stake its name, it will have to become inclusive and not exclusive of all the other scenes, so that the whole thing will make way better sense in the minds of folks ... as to what the whole thing was about.
 
This was not an accidental ... idea ... by a group or two ... about a trivial bit in music! It was a very deep, and meaningful attempt to show that we were not stupid, unintelligent, and that we had something to offer society ... and to affect a change from a manipulated society that was blasted and exterminated by World Wars!
Sorry mate, I don't buy it. If it were not for the English rock press and the English record labels of the 1970s people now sitting in their Californian living rooms wouldn't be singing the praises of Krautrock and RPI in the 21st Century. Krautrock wasn't popular in its home country in the 1970s, it was only when the British press started to take notice of the progressive music coming out of Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands that those bands started to get any recognition anywhere. You may have been hearing about this stuff from a small hippy FM radio station and buying the discs by mail-order from importers, but we in the UK were reading about it in the national music press, hearing it on the BBC and buying it over the counter from our small provincial record stores..., and that's how it crossed the Atlantic, not direct from Germany to the West Coast, but via Britain. Why do you think the BBC would produce a programme on Krautrock if it wasn't relevant in the UK in the 1970s? Think about it.
 
As for American Music - the UK was full of it, most of make-up of the album charts in the 70s was American music, The Old Grey Whistle Test was wall-to-wall American Music, practically UK every rock fan knew who Steve Walsh was, we all knew who Todd Rundgren was. Progressive Kansas wasn't popular for two reasons - by 1976 we were moving on from Prog Rock and secondly, we'd heard them and didn't like it much.


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What?


Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 09:46
Thanks to a variety of things, including of course the internet, we are now even more "the Global Village", so that a person's "back door" can be pretty wide now, culturally and artistically. This sure helped the dissemination of music, including US prog outside of the USA.
     My favorite US prog is the Starcastle debut album, with the early Sea Level records(s/t and Cats On The Coast are Prog-related) a runner up.


Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:01
Dixie Dregs and Djam Karet are good ones. (these are bands with a D this time? LOL)  De Allman Brothers Tongue


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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...



Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:12
THE MUFFINS!!!

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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:23
Originally posted by Kotro Kotro wrote:

Happy the Man.


Crafty Hands is a great album.

For me, Zappa wears the US prog crown. I also like Spocks Beard, Tool, TMV (in small doses) Some Dream Theater, and Moth Vellum (sad to hear they split. Their debut was very good)

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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!


Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:25
Anything Toby Driver related.

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Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005



Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:28
There's a new psych act called Lumerians that I'm really into at the moment. Kinda like a Krautrock take on the Westcoast styled psychedelia from the late sixties. There's a feel there you just don't get that often any more.




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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:46
Here we go: http://www.progarchives.com/Bands-country.asp?country=197%20" rel="nofollow - Every American artist listed in the Progressive Archives .
 
My collection does include every studio, live and compilation album Savatage, TSO and Jon Oliva's Pain released. Every Tori Amos album (except the official bootlegs, I only have one of those), all Tool, TMV, The Dear Hunter, Coheed and Cambria, NIN studio albums and a lot of Sparks albums.
 
I also have all the Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Between The Burried And Me, maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot, Tim Buckley, Diamanda Galas, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Kevin Gilbert, Lana Lane, Phideaux, Talking Heads, Pax Cecelia, The Residents, Planet X, Symphony X, Spock's Beard, Saviour Machine, Derek Sherinian, Synergy, John Petrucci, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Time and Tide, Ohm, Umphrey's McGee, Ohmphrey, Steve Vai and Bardo Pond albums that I'll ever need. 
 
...and the first eleven Dream Theatre studio albums (and Live Scenes)... and Operation Mindcrime I & II.
 
 
Ermm umm... that's it.
 
 
I've got Ooops! Wrong Planet, but that's not Prog and I've a Steely Dan single somewhere that I'd rather not talk about.
 


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What?


Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 13:56
I like a lot of American (US) Prog, as long as it does not sound too American LOL (and yet curiously I love the Dixie Dregs and a lot of classic Kansas).


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 14:00
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Here we go: http://www.progarchives.com/Bands-country.asp?country=197%20" rel="nofollow - Every American artist listed in the Progressive Archives .
 
My collection does include every studio, live and compilation album Savatage, TSO and Jon Oliva's Pain released. Every Tori Amos album (except the official bootlegs, I only have one of those), all Tool, TMV, The Dear Hunter, Coheed and Cambria, NIN studio albums and a lot of Sparks albums.
 
I also have all the Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Between The Burried And Me, maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot, Tim Buckley, Diamanda Galas, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Kevin Gilbert, Lana Lane, Phideaux, Talking Heads, Pax Cecelia, The Residents, Planet X, Symphony X, Spock's Beard, Saviour Machine, Derek Sherinian, Synergy, John Petrucci, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Time and Tide, Ohm, Umphrey's McGee, Ohmphrey, Steve Vai and Bardo Pond albums that I'll ever need. 
 
...and the first eleven Dream Theatre studio albums (and Live Scenes)... and Operation Mindcrime I & II.
 
 
Ermm umm... that's it.
 
 
I've got Ooops! Wrong Planet, but that's not Prog and I've a Steely Dan single somewhere that I'd rather not talk about.
 


You've got a Bardo Pond album Dean? Wouldn't have guessed that..... How do you find it(and what is it btw)?


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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 14:14
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:


You've got a Bardo Pond album Dean? Wouldn't have guessed that..... How do you find it(and what is it btw)?
In 2006 I walked into http://waterloorecords.com/Home" rel="nofollow - Waterloo Records in Austin Texas looking for something new, the guy behind the counter commented on my English accent and we got talking, before I left I asked him for the coolest new album they'd got. He handed me Ticket Crystal.


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What?


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 14:23
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:


You've got a Bardo Pond album Dean? Wouldn't have guessed that..... How do you find it(and what is it btw)?
In 2006 I walked into http://waterloorecords.com/Home" rel="nofollow - Waterloo Records in Austin Texas looking for something new, the guy behind the counter commented on my English accent and we got talking, before I left I asked him for the coolest new album they'd got. He handed me Ticket Crystal.


I don't have that actually - is it any good? 
I have this one, which I really dig(especially the beautiful art work):


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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: dennismoore
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 15:54
Originally posted by Stool Man Stool Man wrote:

So I had an idea, let's have an appreciation-of-US-prog thread, for non-US people like me. Then we can show each other amazing things that we might otherwise never bother to listen to.
  
 
 
Hi Stool Man,
 
As a very proud American Veteran, I am not ashamed to say that as far as progressive music goes, we will
always be the UK's bitch#%s.  Nothing more.
 
Yes, Kansas were great but not to the level of ELP or YES or Genesis, and I do really enjoy Kansas...
 
Hmm, let's include Canada as well,... great North American Prog:
 
RUSH
Kansas
Glass Hammer
Mystery
Pat Metheny
Eric Johnson (best guitarist on planet Earth who is not Steve Howe...)
Spock's Beard
Art in America....Wink
Zappa
Al Dimeola (from New JerseyApprove)  His album "Casino" is a must own.
Allman Bros.
Dixie Dregs!!!!!!!!
 
 
 
 


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"Yeah, people are unhappy about that - but you know what, it's still Yes." - Chris Squire


Posted By: SquonkHunter
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 17:47
Agree with the Starcastle mention. I bought the first three albums on CDs last year and are loving them. Had forgotten all about them for years until I started lurking about on this Forum. Thanks for reminding me of them. 

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"You never had the things you thought you should have had and you'll not get them now..."


Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 18:28
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:



I don't have that actually - is it any good? 
I have no point of reference so I can't be of any use. I like it, but never felt the need to own another album by them.
 
I can tell you that I laughed (out loud) when I first heard the cover of Cry Baby Cry, but not in a bad way.


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What?


Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 18:50
I'm an Englishman and have developed a fondness for US prog over the years, there's definitely a good US Avant scene. Amongst my favorites

Thinking Plague, Hamster Theater, 5UU's, Calle Debauche, The Nerve Institute, The Muffins, Herd Of Instincts, Alec Redfearn & The Eyesores, Zevious, Algernon, The Aristocrats, Behold ... The Arctopus, Tool, U Totem, Far Corner, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Tibbetts, Electric Masada, Secret Chiefs 3, MoeTar, Mirthkon, Cheer-Accident, Decemberists, Djam Karet, Moraine.

Phew, I thinks that's plenty of good listening


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Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/


Posted By: brainstormer
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 20:27
I've been continuing my interview with James Lowe of the Electric Prunes and
I just got this from him:

From Dark Globe, Julian Palacios' biography (page 207) of Syd Barrett:


'Infused with a spirit of sudden discovery, 'Astronomy Domine' was a continual work in progress. Barrett tinkered with the song's construction right until the recording session, inspired by a single issued that week by American garage psychers the Electric Prunes. Its A-side, 'Get Me To The World On Time', was a minor hit climbing Radio London's chart. However, Barrett was riveted by the B-side, 'Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)', he lifted the song's intro wholesale for 'Astronomy Domine'.'


I'd not made the link before but blindingly obvious now it has been pointed out to me. Any thoughts/recollections? Assumption made by the biographer? Did Barrett/Pink Floyd ever acknowledge it? Mere coincidence?




The Electric Prunes were from California.  I'm convinced the importance of seeing them

as a Prog band.






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--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net




Posted By: brainstormer
Date Posted: March 26 2013 at 21:26
I'm sorry to say you guys but I think Prog History may need to be rewritten.

Electric Prunes - I had too much to dream last night

The Lp was released April 1967

 EMI-Columbia released  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Piper_at_the_Gates_of_Dawn" rel="nofollow - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn  in August 1967. 

My opinion on the real history of the early incarnation.  Dave Axelrod, even though he might have
an average musician's Ego (meaning huge) actually became more like a member of the Prunes then the
isolated "consultant or composer," that it seems like his role was. He worked with the band
for one whole album, and then worked with the guy who pulled the legal strings for the band
for another entire album, until the whole thing changed direction and for one album only this
co-owner/producer person became the sole owner of the name. This might be
the most extreme case of membership realignment under a flagship name, but even if James Lowe
doesn't want to accept it, it's not unheard of that rock bands sometimes greatly change their directions like
this.  Chris Squire is only remaining original member to be in the band Yes, and that band has
always had significant member line-up changes.  We could even go so far to say that this producer David
Hassinger was almost like a Peter Sinfield in King Crimson, although I am sure James Lowe would probably laugh
or be angry at the suggestion.  I never met David Hassinge in those days and don't know what kind of person 
he was.  I guess he wasn't the archetypal groovy hippie musician, but my guess is that he wasn't really
a Dickensian monster at that time.  A lot of people like Release of an Oath and Mass, and it does fit into
the Prog Rock canon rather nicely at the earliest stages.   I'm just trying to show an underlining cohesiveness of The
Electric Prunes as a musical entity, not the fractured early tragedy that people might want to always see them as.
Sure, we can say what they could have been shows that there was an early long term band there, 
but Lowe mentioned that he had a type of self-preservation instinct to him that made him eventually
avoid the musical world. It might have worked out best for the world, Todd Rundgren included, that
things turned out the way they did. 

They didn't go on to become have a huge line of records in their first incarnation, 
but early innovators rarely have happy or easy stories. As we can see from the lifelong 
success of James Lowe, the fact that Mark Tulin also had a good life, not too long by today's
standards but not what one could call tragically short.  He went on to work with 
Billy Corgan, one of the biggest figures in music in from the 90' to current times. 




-------------
--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net




Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 04:54
Originally posted by Kotro Kotro wrote:

Happy the Man.


Excellent nomination. A band who fell under the radar the first time around but their first two albums seem to just keep improving with age (or mine at any rate)

Top drawer Symph style prog from the USA is conspicuous by its absence and I guess that the US tended to excel in the jazzier/fusion end of the spectrum ?

However, exceptions to that are:
Quill
Ethos



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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:08
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

...
Sorry mate, I don't buy it. If it were not for the English rock press and the English record labels of the 1970s people now sitting in their Californian living rooms wouldn't be singing the praises of Krautrock and RPI in the 21st Century. ...
 
It was the London Press that helped the most, because LA had the Free Press, which was basically considered an underground and "illegal" publication (anything that is not the LA Times always was!), SF had Rolling Stone, but only showed "stars", so Jan could get laid. And NY didn't care, because they already had a god named Andy!
 
So, yes, the London calling is valid! But it is not the only music there was, and LONDON knew it!  I read my Melody Maker about once a month (when we went to LA so we could get it!) ... and I got into Terje Rypdal from his concert with AshRaTempel, and knew Can was in London, and Amon Duul 2 ... we never got that at Rolling Stone, or the Free Press.  Ohhh ... and the first time that Rolling Stone reviewed Tangerine Dream, they said it was washing machine music, which tells you what they were ingesting for dope and drink ... even we had fun with that, but I know that you know, that we both know ... that washing machines do not sound anything like TD, even in the 2nd or 3rd album!  Which really tells you where their head was at ... and the folks around the radio stations, were not a whole lot better, btw ... which makes Guy's efforts for over 20 years insane ... !
 
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

...
Krautrock wasn't popular in its home country in the 1970s, it was only when the British press started to take notice of the progressive music coming out of Germany, France, Italy and The Netherlands that those bands started to get any recognition anywhere. ...
 
Krautrock was a natural extension of the film and theater work in Germany at that time. Music was a better and more efficient progenitor of the message ... we all know that! Please take a look, or read up Peter Brook, as to how/why he selected Peter Weiss ... and it will give you an idea of what was going on in German Theater ... and a year later or two Peter Handke was going his Burroughs impression, which Damo Suzuki made famous and it became known as "krautrock", along with others.
 
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

...
Why do you think the BBC would produce a programme on Krautrock if it wasn't relevant in the UK in the 1970s? Think about it. ...
 
I did ... and check out the Encyclopedia Brittanica ...
 
Again ... what we're getting caught on is a term that was NOT used at the time, and now we're calling it that ... and giving it different criteria fro everything including the kitchen sink ... I was aware of a lot of film around the world, and music, just like you were quite well aware of music on this side of the continent ... and we all heard it!
 
Btw ... I didn't care for Kansas, either! I would rather pay to go see The Allman Brothers Band at that time, since not too many import bands were around, then, specially in California, though later, things like KC did really well in LA and SF.


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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:15
Originally posted by brainstormer brainstormer wrote:

I've been continuing my interview with James Lowe of the Electric Prunes and
I just got this from him:

From Dark Globe, Julian Palacios' biography (page 207) of Syd Barrett:


'Infused with a spirit of sudden discovery, 'Astronomy Domine' was a continual work in progress. Barrett tinkered with the song's construction right until the recording session, inspired by a single issued that week by American garage psychers the Electric Prunes. Its A-side, 'Get Me To The World On Time', was a minor hit climbing Radio London's chart. However, Barrett was riveted by the B-side, 'Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)', he lifted the song's intro wholesale for 'Astronomy Domine'.'


I'd not made the link before but blindingly obvious now it has been pointed out to me. Any thoughts/recollections? Assumption made by the biographer? Did Barrett/Pink Floyd ever acknowledge it? Mere coincidence?




The Electric Prunes were from California.  I'm convinced the importance of seeing them

as a Prog band.






I find this very interesting, and as you yourself put it - it's rather obvious when you compare the two tracks.
I do however think that Floyd are here on PA because of their subsequent releases, and as much as Piper was overtly experimental and progressive, it's still heavily rooted in the psych rock from the sixties. As I see it, The Electric Prunes never underwent the same shift in their music, at least not towards the 'prog' we have come to call it later on.


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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:25
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:



I don't have that actually - is it any good? 
I have no point of reference so I can't be of any use. I like it, but never felt the need to own another album by them.
 
I can tell you that I laughed (out loud) when I first heard the cover of Cry Baby Cry, but not in a bad way.


I know the feeling. I have the first Ramases album, and while I really dig it, I have no real urge to acquire the follow up.

Oh and laughing out loud during music is perhaps one of the most sensible things to do, whenever you come across something weird/intangible/left-field - instead of pressing skip or changing the album..... Mr Wilson did have a point back when he destroyed ipods with various guns, - with today's digital world, there does seem to be a serious deficit of putting albums on and listening to them in their entirety. Too busy and fragmented to sit still for 45 minutes, and I tend to agree with him, even if I think his way of demonstrating against it was counterproductive. Ok rant overLOL


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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:30
Originally posted by Nogbad_The_Bad Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

I'm an Englishman and have developed a fondness for US prog over the years, there's definitely a good US Avant scene. Amongst my favorites

Thinking Plague, Hamster Theater, 5UU's, Calle Debauche, The Nerve Institute, The Muffins, Herd Of Instincts, Alec Redfearn & The Eyesores, Zevious, Algernon, The Aristocrats, Behold ... The Arctopus, Tool, U Totem, Far Corner, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Tibbetts, Electric Masada, Secret Chiefs 3, MoeTar, Mirthkon, Cheer-Accident, Decemberists, Djam Karet, Moraine.

Phew, I thinks that's plenty of good listening
 
You haven't added "Herd of Instinct"? ... shame on you!


-------------
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 10:51
He also forgot about two brethren of the German kosmische traditionWink

Moolah:

Friendsound:


Like I said, both of these genuinely sound like they were made ca 1971 Germany, and whereas the Moolah album sports an early spooky industrial atmosphere . there's still that wonderful playful almost naive approach to the instruments that colours much of the Friendsound album. Two very imaginative albums, and I can't believe they've been forgotten about.


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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 12:39
Oh oh oh I know, we've completely forgotten about this one as well:


-------------
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 13:51
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Originally posted by Nogbad_The_Bad Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

I'm an Englishman and have developed a fondness for US prog over the years, there's definitely a good US Avant scene. Amongst my favorites

Thinking Plague, Hamster Theater, 5UU's, Calle Debauche, The Nerve Institute, The Muffins, Herd Of Instincts, Alec Redfearn & The Eyesores, Zevious, Algernon, The Aristocrats, Behold ... The Arctopus, Tool, U Totem, Far Corner, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Steve Tibbetts, Electric Masada, Secret Chiefs 3, MoeTar, Mirthkon, Cheer-Accident, Decemberists, Djam Karet, Moraine.

Phew, I thinks that's plenty of good listening
You haven't added "Herd of Instinct"? ... shame on you!
 They're in my list, I seem to remember suggesting they be added here when the first album came out and getting slapped down as they'd been suggested before. Great band, love the new album.


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Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 13:55
Hey Nogbad.

Do you by any chance know of the three albums I just mentioned? Seeing your tastes, they'd probably fit you like a pair of gloves.


-------------
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 13:59
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

Hey Nogbad.

Do you by any chance know of the three albums I just mentioned? Seeing your tastes, they'd probably fit you like a pair of gloves.
Thanks for the reco, I don't know them but will certainly check them out, what is the third one?

-------------
Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/


Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 14:04
It's Bobby Beausoleil's soundtrack for the Kenneth Anger movie Lucifer Rising. You know, the Charles Manson affiliate who supposedly killed a drug dealer for selling him bum mescalin? He then proceeded to record this album from the insides of a jail cell - sending bits and pieces back and forth between him and the band - making this one of the first albums done by 'mail'.

-------------
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: brainstormer
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 15:33
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

Originally posted by brainstormer brainstormer wrote:

I've been continuing my interview with James Lowe of the Electric Prunes and
I just got this from him:

From Dark Globe, Julian Palacios' biography (page 207) of Syd Barrett:


'Infused with a spirit of sudden discovery, 'Astronomy Domine' was a continual work in progress. Barrett tinkered with the song's construction right until the recording session, inspired by a single issued that week by American garage psychers the Electric Prunes. Its A-side, 'Get Me To The World On Time', was a minor hit climbing Radio London's chart. However, Barrett was riveted by the B-side, 'Are You Loving Me More (But Enjoying It Less)', he lifted the song's intro wholesale for 'Astronomy Domine'.'


I'd not made the link before but blindingly obvious now it has been pointed out to me. Any thoughts/recollections? Assumption made by the biographer? Did Barrett/Pink Floyd ever acknowledge it? Mere coincidence?




The Electric Prunes were from California.  I'm convinced the importance of seeing them

as a Prog band.






I find this very interesting, and as you yourself put it - it's rather obvious when you compare the two tracks.
I do however think that Floyd are here on PA because of their subsequent releases, and as much as Piper was overtly experimental and progressive, it's still heavily rooted in the psych rock from the sixties. As I see it, The Electric Prunes never underwent the same shift in their music, at least not towards the 'prog' we have come to call it later on.

That wasn't my quote, that was James Lowe, the singer saying that.

As far as the EP being prog, they have 2 concept albums in 1968.  Have you heard them? Mass and
Release?




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--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net




Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 15:37
Sorry my bad, I still hear the resemblance though.

Mass and Release I have and would perhaps call them closer to Krautrock - certainly experimental. 
Is it because you'd like to see The Prunes included on PA, if you don't mind me asking?


-------------
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

- Douglas Adams


Posted By: brainstormer
Date Posted: March 27 2013 at 16:56
[QUOTE=Guldbamsen]Sorry my bad, I still hear the resemblance though.

Mass and Release I have and would perhaps call them closer to Krautrock - certainly experimental. 
Is it because you'd like to see The Prunes included on PA, if you don't mind me asking?
[/QUOTE

Yes, I would.  I don't think that one should say this guy David Axelrod is any kind of prog genius
who belongs in here.  If you listen to his work, it often sounds more like what later
became disco.  I don't know his body of work that well, and I think the work he did
with the Prunes is great, but the Prunes first two albums are great too, as rock
albums leading up to the development of Prog Rock. and expanding the sonic
palette of music. 

Axelrods albums with the prunes even if he wrote the piece, did not write the sonic
palette, didn't come up with the guitar effects, and so on.  It's a bit like Emerson
like Mussorgsky.  Listen to those two works and you'll hear a ton of differences.


-------------
--
Robert Pearson
Regenerative Music http://www.regenerativemusic.net
Telical Books http://www.telicalbooks.com
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net




Posted By: Stool Man
Date Posted: April 14 2013 at 15:38
Please can somebody explain to this Brit the appeal of Kansas. 

-------------
rotten hound of the burnie crew


Posted By: Gerinski
Date Posted: April 15 2013 at 01:46
Originally posted by Stool Man Stool Man wrote:

Please can somebody explain to this Brit the appeal of Kansas. 

Well, you said in the OP that you have never listened to them, so if that's the case the first thing is for you to give them a chance? 
Like many other respected classic bands they have had weak periods and also some of their songs have a clearly American-rock vibe which may not appeal to some non-US proggers, but they have made excellent music too.
Leftoverture or the live Two For The Show should be the best introduction IMO.






Posted By: Stool Man
Date Posted: April 15 2013 at 02:13
My OP was three weeks ago, & I've since heard a few songs.  But thanks, I'll try what you suggested.

-------------
rotten hound of the burnie crew


Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: April 15 2013 at 14:40
The thing that strikes me most when I listen to Kansas nowadays (loved them in my teens and 20's), is how hyperactive it all sounds.  There isn't a lot in the way of dynamics, except on the longer more proggy tracks.  Even then, they seem to have difficulty slowing down to any degree.

I think that, coupled with the higher register "arena rock" (or, as some Brits I know have said to me, "glam rock") vocals, is what turns off most non-Americans (and a lot of Americans, for that matter).  There is also the fact that the band seemed torn a lot of the time between symphonic prog rock and bluesy hard rock, but I think most people outside the USA have heard plenty of both types of music (though, again, Kansas do a very American take on the bluesy hard rock as well).

Still, I think they are worth giving some time, especially the first 4 albums and the Two For The Show live album, especially.



Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: April 16 2013 at 01:15
Originally posted by infandous infandous wrote:

The thing that strikes me most when I listen to Kansas nowadays (loved them in my teens and 20's), is how hyperactive it all sounds.  There isn't a lot in the way of dynamics, except on the longer more proggy tracks.  Even then, they seem to have difficulty slowing down to any degree.

I think that, coupled with the higher register "arena rock" (or, as some Brits I know have said to me, "glam rock") vocals, is what turns off most non-Americans (and a lot of Americans, for that matter).  There is also the fact that the band seemed torn a lot of the time between symphonic prog rock and bluesy hard rock, but I think most people outside the USA have heard plenty of both types of music (though, again, Kansas do a very American take on the bluesy hard rock as well).

Still, I think they are worth giving some time, especially the first 4 albums and the Two For The Show live album, especially.


Somewhere to Elsewhere is one of their best albums so I wouldn't ignore that. I think you make an interesting point about dynamics in their music (or rather lack of it). When I first heard Point Of Know Return I was surprised by just how 'flat' it sounded but then I put that down to production more than anything else. I saw them live about 8 years ago and was very impressed . I liked their 'hyperactive' approach on that occasionSmile


Posted By: infandous
Date Posted: April 16 2013 at 11:41
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Originally posted by infandous infandous wrote:

The thing that strikes me most when I listen to Kansas nowadays (loved them in my teens and 20's), is how hyperactive it all sounds.  There isn't a lot in the way of dynamics, except on the longer more proggy tracks.  Even then, they seem to have difficulty slowing down to any degree.

I think that, coupled with the higher register "arena rock" (or, as some Brits I know have said to me, "glam rock") vocals, is what turns off most non-Americans (and a lot of Americans, for that matter).  There is also the fact that the band seemed torn a lot of the time between symphonic prog rock and bluesy hard rock, but I think most people outside the USA have heard plenty of both types of music (though, again, Kansas do a very American take on the bluesy hard rock as well).

Still, I think they are worth giving some time, especially the first 4 albums and the Two For The Show live album, especially.


Somewhere to Elsewhere is one of their best albums so I wouldn't ignore that. I think you make an interesting point about dynamics in their music (or rather lack of it). When I first heard Point Of Know Return I was surprised by just how 'flat' it sounded but then I put that down to production more than anything else. I saw them live about 8 years ago and was very impressed . I liked their 'hyperactive' approach on that occasionSmile


Oh yeah, I enjoy it too, don't get me wrong.  I just think that might be a factor for non-US folks.  I have to admit, I've never heard Somewhere to Elsewhere Embarrassed  I guess I'm not a big enough fan to want to check it out before the tons of other stuff I want to hear.


Posted By: Knapitatet
Date Posted: April 30 2013 at 03:10
I like Frank Zappa, The Mars Volta, Return To Forever, The Fall Of Troy, Coheed And Cambria, Planet X and i do count The Mahavishnu Orchestrah as an American group aswell.


Posted By: Knapitatet
Date Posted: April 30 2013 at 03:39
Might as well add Phish, Primus, Mastodon, Mr.Bungle, Animals As Leaders and Periphery while im still at it. Only a fool would underestimate American prog.

EDIT: I promise i wont bump this thread anymore, but i just have to add Cynic and Captain Beefheart aswell!


Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: April 30 2013 at 10:34
Originally posted by Stool Man Stool Man wrote:

Please can somebody explain to this Brit the appeal of Kansas. 

This Yank sure cannot!  Their debut album was quite refreshing, but their output afterwards was quite inconsistent.   

However, they were better than most of the other US prog groups of the time, such as Starcaste. 

Now, would you explain to this Yank the appeal of Oasis?  (they were huge when I lived in Exeter, Devon in 1994!)


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: May 01 2013 at 01:45
Kansas were very much an American band making prog. They didn't try to be too much like European bands and for that I commend them. Song For America is in particular a real gem. I love bands to write about their own country and the history.



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